Thanks to the Minister for that clarification. I realize that we are following the National Building Code, but my concern lies more with enforcement. It was my understanding that the Minister, yesterday, said we really don’t have any enforcement capabilities. I’d like to ask the Minister if he can advise that if I as a private homeowner am building a house, who inspects the construction of my home to ensure that it conforms to the Canada building standards. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it depends on what part of the territory you live in. In a place like Yellowknife, for example, and some of the larger communities that do have community building inspectors, when you’re building a home you would have to get a building permit from them, they would review the plans, and then once your home is completed, they would inspect it to ensure that you conform to all local building practices and the National Building Code. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister. As the Minister points out, it’s all well and good if I’m building my home in Yellowknife because there are building inspectors here who do do that service here. But if I am in a community outside of Yellowknife or outside or in any community that does not have a building inspector, what am I to do? How am I to know that the building that is being constructed is safe and it has conformed to the Canada Building Code? I’d like to ask the Minister that. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, that’s a question that we’ve had a number of times in the past from some of the communities out there. They’ve asked about building inspection services…

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Start over? Right from the start?

Mr. Speaker, that is a question that we’ve had a number of times before from those regions outside that are not covered by a municipal building inspector, and it’s one that we continue to look at.

If you’re building in a small community, obviously if it’s a house, that’s through one of the NWT housing programs, we have project officers that would inspect the building to ensure that it conforms to code. However, if you’re self-financing this or financing it through the bank, I’m not quite sure yet – I’d have to check on that – but I’m sure there would be a requirement to have the building inspected and conform to code for insurance purposes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister again. I think the Minister is agreeing with me that we don’t have the capability to do the kind of inspections of buildings that we should. I want to ask the Minister whether or not there’s a possibility that we can look at this seriously. The subject has been raised a number of times. Can we seriously look at providing those services, particularly where we have no building inspectors in our communities, and maybe we should consider having a Minister who is responsible for our building standards and building codes. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, again, that is a question we do get a lot. It’s one that I think, as a department, we would have to explore to see… Well, we’d have to weigh everything, the finances and all the other things that go with it.

I will commit to the Member that as a department we will have a look at this, and we’ll do a bit of research as to what areas are covered, what’s not covered. I know for commercial buildings they’re pretty well covered. I know for houses, through the NWT Housing Corp, inspection is covered. However, we do have very few private homes going up into the smaller non-market communities. So there’s a bit of a gap there and we’ll have to do some research. I will commit to reporting my finds to the members of the committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The students are encouraged to attend the local district school system. If not, if they go elsewhere, then the funding follows them. So if they’re in, let’s say, Yellowknife, St. Pat’s for example, based on enrolment, they will get additional funding for an additional child in the school.

We’re not saying no to the students who want to explore other schools, but it depends on the school enrolment, they funding they receive. So when the Deh Cho region receives funding, if an individual student decides to go to another larger centre, then they will lose that portion from the enrolment. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I understand a bit about that, how schools are funded by each education authority. I guess my question was more related to home boarding. When students from small communities go to Fort Simpson, the education authority takes care of the home boarding and provides them a place to stay. But when the parent makes the choice to send them to another district – in this case to Yellowknife – why are we not supporting costs for home boarding in relatives’ homes or other areas? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, this has been an ongoing discussion that we’ve been having in this House about home boarding, and it’s all across the Northwest Territories. We are trying to deal with this matter as best as we can, dealing with the school boards.

At the end of the day, it’s the school board that makes the decision. If it’s outside their district, then obviously they won’t be supporting a student in Yellowknife. We give them the discretion to expend that funding to the best needs of the community, best needs of the students that are in their region. I will continue to work with the school board, all the school boards across the Northwest Territories that deal specifically with home boarding issues. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I spoke about treaties and Aboriginal rights. We are responsible for Aboriginal education and if that student moves to whatever community, I feel that home boarding should be covered. Thank you.

Sorry, Mr. Menicoche. There is no question, but I will allow the Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Speaker, we are not denying students to be educated. We provide the facilities all across the Northwest Territories and the education system as well. We continue to provide funding to the school boards so they can have their children educated in their system as well. We will continue to enforce that on to the school boards. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for your leeway in continuing debate with the Minister of Education. The parents know the value of good education and that’s why they are choosing other districts based on their own selection and guidelines that they would like for their children.

Once again, can the Minister explore home boarding not only in the district that the student is from but other communities? Also, I want to point out once again, the mitigating factor here is that there are Aboriginal rights and the federal government pays for that, and our government, therefore, is responsible as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we are exploring those areas where I just met with Beaufort-Delta on e-learning. E-learning is the way to go now, where students are taking on the courses that are not delivered in small communities. Those are, I believe, going to be something big that we will probably focus on as we move further along.

When it comes to the residence for those students, I still have to deal with the school boards, so I can relay the message on to the school boards. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had to refrain myself yesterday from getting involved in the inclusive schooling discussions. Today, after listening to news reports this morning, looking at Hansard and following up, in my questions today I just want to get a little bit more specific answers to the inclusive schooling. My first question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Has the Minister and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment received the report from the Department of Executive with recommendations on pupil-teacher ratio and the inclusive schooling and the cost savings for the government? Has he received a review, a report, or some type of communication? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. There are various reports that my department receives. One of them is PTR inclusive schooling. We continue to review those files. Mahsi.